AD DC, or functionally similar network nodes, performs important administrative functions in the network. For example, AD DC typically manage user and device registration and access.
Over time, as a network grows, expands, and evolves, locations of the AC DC may become lost. Known AD DC mapping tools start with a set of known nodes and looks to characteristics of the nodes to identify the AD DC. However, if nodes are no longer known, these nodes cannot be probed to determine whether they are AD DC. Moreover, each section of the network typically needs to have a local AD DC, and the known application may not properly identify any AD DC for each localized grouping of nodes. Thus, the conventional AD mapping tools visualize the AD infrastructure without a sense of integration into the network infrastructure of the network topology.
Network topology is the study of the arrangement or mapping of the elements (links, nodes, etc.) of a network, especially the physical (real) and logical (virtual) interconnections between nodes. A local area network (LAN) is one example of a network that exhibits both a physical topology and a logical topology. Any given node in the LAN will have one or more links to one or more other nodes in the network and the mapping of these links and nodes onto a graph results in a geometrical shape that determines the physical topology of the network. Likewise, the mapping of the flow of data between the nodes in the network determines the logical topology of the network.
Thus, network topology describes the specific physical or logical arrangement of the elements of a network. The elements may be physical or logical such that physical elements are real, and logical elements may be, for example virtual elements or an arrangement of the elements of a network. Two networks may share a similar topology if the connection configuration is the same, although the networks may differ in other aspects such as physical interconnections, domains, distances between nodes, transmission rates, and/or signal types. A network may incorporate multiple smaller networks. By way of example, a private telephone exchange is a network and that network is part of a local telephone exchange. The local exchange is part of a larger network of telephones which permit international calls, and is networked with cellular telephone networks.
Any particular network topology is determined only by the graphical mapping of the configuration of physical and/or logical connections between nodes. LAN Network Topology is, therefore, technically a part of graph theory. Distances between nodes, physical interconnections, transmission rates, and/or signal types may differ in two networks and yet their topologies may be identical. The arrangement or mapping of the elements of a network gives rise to certain basic topologies which may then be combined to form more complex topologies (hybrid topologies). The most common of these basic types of topologies include bus (such as Linear, Distributed Bus), star, ring, mesh (including a partially connected or a fully connected mesh), tree, hybrid that is composed of one or more network topologies, and point-to-point.
Logical topology corresponds to a mapping of the apparent connections between the nodes of a network, as evidenced by the path that data appears to take when traveling between the nodes. The logical classification of network topologies generally follows the same classifications as those in the physical classifications of network topologies, the path that the data takes between nodes being used to determine the topology as opposed to the actual physical connections being used to determine the topology. Logical topologies are often closely associated with media access control (MAC) methods and protocols. The logical topologies are generally determined by network protocols as opposed to being determined by the physical layout of cables, wires, and network devices or by the flow of the electrical signals, although in many cases the paths that the electrical signals take between nodes may closely match the logical flow of data, hence the convention of using the terms ‘logical topology’ and ‘signal topology’ interchangeably. Logical topologies are typically able to be dynamically reconfigured by special types of equipment such as routers and switches.